The Black Vault

The past eight days have been a living nightmare, storm after storm after storm--now it looks like one more day--Today Wednesday April 19 th, the ninth day, it's said to be the last for a few days, only it comes with a grater risk of tornadoes.

This run of ( very questionable weather ) began on April the 19TH @ exactly 9:50 pm---that's when a bow echo of winds greater than 95 MPH Knocked out power and knocked down hundreds of trees in my immediate community, I lost a 150 year old White Oak, it crushed the kids' trampoline which is now sitting in a pile out back of the drive way. Their play yard escaped with only minor damage and the rest of their stuff just got wet Most importantly no one was injured which I find pretty amazing considering the wind-- saying it was scary doesn't do it justice--I don't rattle over very much, this has had a psychological impact, not only on me but most of the people I know. Everyone is talking about the strain, the warning sirens, and the local media fear-mongering tactics.

The rain has been relentless just unreal to see--places in southern Illinois and South East Missouri have had close to 20 inches of rain these past 8 days, more last night and more today. The Ohio River is 20 miles wide in places, small towns that dot the area are, or will be gone by the time the river makes it's crest. Sandbagging is going on non stop---" HOMELAND SECURITY " is trying to run that show, only the locals here have set up their own work station--last count was over 100,000 bags all filled by local volunteers-

This is a long long story, I'll try to post some photos when I get time---I've got a very valuable White Oak log limmed out and waiting to be bucked up, only I can't bring myself to do it--only a true fool would use a virgin timber Log for firewood---The problem it that Timber buyers won't touch residential Timber---one nail can ruin a $2,000.00 saw blade--so they pass---doesn't matter how hard you try to convince them they simply refuse to buy wood from homeowners--

Anyway it looks like I'm off to buy another new Stihl chainsaw--only this time I'll have to go the professional route and they ain't cheap--around $ 1,000.00 for the necessary saw to handle these logs---in my opinion---worth their wait in gold--nothing like the sound of chainsaws in the morning, sounds like victory!

We were lucky, very very lucky--and I truly hope today is the last until at least early next week- Oh I almost forgot---we had some surly visitors cruising the roads listening for the sounds of generators looking for easy pickings so to speak. I had two guys start to pull down my drive, I surprised them while on my way to the mail box. They tried to back out but too many rubbernecks were blocking their escape---I asked " What can I help you guys with?"

" Oh we're just looking to see if anyone needs any help " Yeah right I said--what could you possibly do to help anyone out here? You've got no chainsaws, rigging rope, or gear of any kind in your truck---maybe you've got a front end loader parked just down the street, or maybe you're electricians and can help the power company string new wire, or plant new poles!! No we ain't got nuttin like that they say----to which I said --imagine that.

They need to rid the earth of Meth and the sooner the better but that's for another thread--- I hate to say it but that is the bad side of some human beings, and if you ever find yourself rattled and without power for a few days time, remember to watch for these types---THEY STEAL YOUR STUFF and they know it'll be easy because more than likely you're preoccupied-- with other things-

These guys were scoping out the area--that's all--nothing else. A very very risky activity around these parts, especially after dark.

More on this when time permits.

be safe,

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cm ... 4&source=0



Cole

looters may be the worst kind of scum of the earth. I was so amazed that in Japan, if someone found a unbroken item that was not theirs, they set it on a rock or something so the owners may find it. Everyone left what was not their alone, and went a step further to do a good deed with what they found.

I was just gonna start a thread about the insane weather.

If you are or have been in a danger zone...blessings of protection go out to you and yours.

There was a tornado that touched down not far from here Sunday(24th) evening. It went green, as they say, and the rain poured down in buckets for awhile, but luckily the tornado missed us and came down out in the country with minimal damage. We heard the siren going off downtown for awhile and already had the storm door open and ready; too close for comfort.

feels like "The Coming Global Superstorm" has arrived

Tornadoes are wicked, the only safe place during a large one, F-3 or bigger/stronger, is underground. My deal, or the local deal I should say, has been constant bouts of very heavy down pours of rain. The ground is so saturated that ANY significant wind will put down many many trees that have already suffered from 3/4 severe events over the past 2 years.

Had it rained like this prior to that ( questionable ) bow echo packing 90-100 mph ( so called ) straight line winds--then we would have suffered immediate and severe damage to our home, just no way to hide from several tons of Red and White Oak contained within huge 125 plus year old Oak trees. These trees are 100% healthy and taken care of, yet not much one can do except cut them down, and that's something I'd never do.

We were lucky last night as the really bad to severe parts of ( THAT SYSTEM ) moved to our south--it seemed to have decided to leave the area after 8-9 days of being a constant pain in both, the BUTT and HEAD. Sad to say and see that it killed more people and destroyed multi-million dollars worth of property as it spawned numerous twisters. I could see them plain as day on radar in the early evening---Mississippi and Alabama were hard hit, I'm sure other reports will soon follow as it moves further East.



The above image makes for good TV----Yeah looks like the wind was so strong that it ripped the bark plum off them trees--lol---only it's the debris that does that sort of thing, and the debris is the thing that usually kills people or anything in a tornadoes path that isn't protected.

Here's a Satt Image from last night---notice the bright red cluster that seems to cover 6 states-- I question that as I'm having extreme difficulty believing that Mother Nature is 100% involved-- But that's a long long story better left to us conspiracy nutters, and better left for another day. All I know is that ALL of the local weather casters are just as ( well ) what to say--let's just say--concerned!



No one that I know has ever seen a stalled out frontal boundary produce wave after wave of violent weather including everything from High Wind bow echo's, to Heavy flooding rains, to Tornadoes like routine clockwork on a daily basis---hell you could set your clock by these events---every day for 9 straight days----rain over night with fear of being blown away in the dark--to nothing during the daylight hours---this was a constant 8 days--yesterday being the 9th---it ended as a HUGE SHELF CLOUD black as night roared through around 12 noon--

Being a weather buff of sorts, I know normal from ( NOT ) normal----This one is going down in history as the worst ever for this area---well since they started keeping records anyway.

I sure hope Mother nature is acting alone but I honestly have my doubts, maybe I'm just shell shocked. Anyway all that matters to me is the safety of my family, my wife and two kids are all I really care about--the rest really are/is just things. Yet the stress of keeping them safe and teaching them how and what to do if either this or that happens, takes a mental toll. It does on me anyway, maybe I'm just feeling old age creep up

Always try to be prepared, and the way things are shaping up I think that might be sound advice for everyone these days.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... gency.html

Cole

PS.

HERE IS A GREAT LINK TO SOME AWESOME SOCIAL NETWORK/MEDIA PHOTOS OF THE DAMAGE IN ALABAMA--153 PEOPLE WERE KILLED LAST NIGHT--Very scary stuff.

http://www.14wfie.com/story/14528229/to ... t-least-53

bionic wrote:feels like "The Coming Global Superstorm" has arrived

greet looters with a ITEM with a 15 round clip. its the ONLY thing thay understand. im in missouri same is hapining here. . it has worked wonders so far.

The sky is falling! Shoot everyone who looks at you funny!

I was seeing all the devistation on tv..all the people dead or missing
visions of Indonesia,New Orleans, and Japan came to mind..

Thoughts and prayers go out to those people.
just..really it's horrible